Himal Press 
UAE opener Aryansh Sharma (left) raises bat after scoring a ton, while pacer Ajay Sharma celebrates his six-wicket haul against Oman. Photos: CAN
KATHMANDU: UAE defeated Oman by 25 runs in the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) 2 tri-series at the TU International Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Sent in to bat after losing the toss, UAE posted 268 for seven in 50 overs, riding on a magnificent century from opener Aryansh Sharma. Despite a solid start from their openers, Oman were bowled out for 243 in 47.5 overs.
Sharma and Adeeb Usmani laid a strong foundation for the UAE with a 163-run opening stand. Sharma scored 105 off 125 balls, while Usmani made 64 from 76. Harpreet Singh added 54 off 58 balls. However, the UAE failed to capitalize fully as wickets fell at regular intervals. Apart from Muhammad Shahdad, who scored 25 off 23, the rest of the UAE batters failed to reach double figures.
For Oman, Shah Faisal claimed three wickets, while Siddharth Bukkapatnam took two and Shakeel Ahmed chipped in with one.
In reply, Oman openers Jatinder Singh and Aasif Odedra put on 85 runs for the first wicket. Singh struck 46 off 35 balls, while Odedra made 35 from 49. Mujibur Ali (24) and Shakeel Ahmed (18) got starts but could not convert them into big scores. Vinayak Shukla, who remained unbeaten on 58 off 58 balls, kept Oman in the chase but lacked support from the other end. Jiten Ramanandi scored 19, while the rest of the batting line-up failed to reach double digits.
Ajay Kumar starred with the ball for UAE, claiming six wickets, while Haider Ali, Nilansh Keswani and Muhammad Shahdad took one wicket each.
After the match, Oman remain third on the table with 29 points from 25 matches. UAE are eighth with 12 points from 22 matches, while Nepal, who face Oman on Wednesday, sit seventh with 14 points from 21 matches.
